According to a known electrostatic holding means for adsorbing and holding an object by using the Coulomb force of static electricity, positive and negative charges are respectively applied to a set of electrodes by an electric current supply to thereby induce an adsorbing mechanism, and the object to be adsorbed is adsorbed and held by the electrostatic adsorbing force of the adsorbing mechanism. Such electrostatic holding means is used in mechanical equipment in various industrial fields, for instance, in the original pressing portion of a copying apparatus, in the carrying object holding portion of a conveying apparatus, or the like.
In the conventional electrostatic adsorbing apparatus having an electrostatic adsorbing plate, an object is adsorbed and held at a desired position by the electrostatic adsorbing plate and is used as a notice board or an original pressing device.
However, the idea of using the above electrostatic adsorbing plate as a temporary storage device has not yet been proposed.
That is, when large papers of the A0 or A1 size or the like are stored, wrinkles or creases on the papers are prevented by hanging the large papers on a rod-like member or by placing the large papers on a flat plate in a plane manner.
However, when a paper is hung on the rod-like member, although the storage space is small, there is an inconvenience in that the paper has a fold, making it difficult to use the paper. On the other hand, when the paper is stored in a plane manner, there is an inconvenience in that the storage space is large, the space cannot be effectively used, and the storage is practically disadvantageous.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an electrostatic adsorbing apparatus having an electrostatic adsorbing plate for adsorbing and laminating a plurality of objects, wherein, in order to eliminate the foregoing inconveniences, electrodes are arranged like a comb in the electrostatic adsorbing plate of the electrostatic adsorbing apparatus, and adsorbing portions which extend in the horizontal direction are formed on the surface of the electrostatic adsorbing plate in order to adsorb and laminate the objects so as to slightly vertically offset the upper end portions thereof. In this manner, the required storage space for the adsorbed objects can be reduced, and the storage is practically advantageous in that each adsorbed object can be easily extracted.